This Privacy Notice is regularly reviewed and may be updated or revised at any time. It was last updated in October 2025. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes.
- Introduction
- What personal data do we collect?
- How we use personal data
- Legal Basis for processing
- Who do we share personal data with?
- How long do we keep personal data?
- Automated decisions
- Your rights
- Data Protection Officer.
Introduction
Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.
This notice provides additional privacy information for Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Free School Meals, Disabled Blue Badge, Welfare Support Applications, Adult Social Care Financial Assessments and Income Maximisation services we provide.
What personal data do we collect?
To carry out activities and obligations as a benefits, welfare support and income maximisation service we process the following personal data:
- Name
- Title
- Date of birth
- Address
- Telephone number
- Email address
- Gender
- Make-up of household
- Relationships
- Bank account details
- Your landlord
- Employment, payroll and national insurance status information
- Home Office information including UK residency status
- Information regarding student status including place of education
- Financial information, including income, savings, capital, property ownership (this may include Land Registry searches), expenditure, benefit entitlement status, His Majesty Revenues and Customs (HMRC) information and details of any professionals involved in your care
- Details of other people supporting you, such as a Power of Attorney, Deputy, or Advocate
- Proof to support your claim such as bank statements, payslips and other documentary evidence
- Internet Protocol (IP) address.
We sometimes need information about people other than the person who has applied for a benefit or service to work out what that person is entitled to. For example:
- Housing Benefit claim – we need information about other people who live in the same household to work out any entitlement
- Financial Assessment - we hold information on appointees and representatives and records regarding property ownership.
We also process the following Special Category Data:
- Medical information including information regarding health conditions, hospital admissions and discharges, physical, mental health and mental capacity, long-term sickness and disability, carers and mobility allowances relevant to your claim.
How we use personal data
The main purposes for processing your personal data are:
- To assess, reassess and update your claim or application for Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction/Discretionary Housing Payment/Free School Meals/Disabled Blue Badges or Welfare Support
- For Financial Assessments the information will help us decide whether you need to contribute towards the cost of any chargeable care and support services and investigate if you or others are at risk of abuse and take appropriate action (Safeguarding)
- To verify evidence regarding income and capital to calculate your eligibility to Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction/Discretionary Housing Payment/Free School Meals/Welfare Support and to complete a Financial Assessment
- To establish potential eligibility for any benefits or financial support or assistance you may currently be missing out on
- To allow us to pay any award directly into your bank account
- To deliver services and support to you, including providing you with relevant information and advice regarding your benefit entitlements and debt wellbeing services
- To allow us to put into place recovery procedures where you are overpaid Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction and when debt is accrued for Adult Social Care Services
- To deal with complaints or concerns
- To consider any reconsiderations and appeals where you do not agree with a decision/award relating to your claim or application
- To apply the Breathing Space Scheme protections (where applicable)
- To prevent and detect fraud in the use of public funds.
Legal Basis for processing
The lawful basis we rely on for processing your personal data is:
- It is necessary to fulfil a legal obligation under the following:
- Social Security Administration Act 1992 (consolidating act) as amended
- Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (consolidating act) as amended
- The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006
- Section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992
- The Council Tax Reduction Scheme (Prescribed Requirements) Regulations 2012 as amended
- Care Act 2014
- Education Act 1996.
- It is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority
- Consent.
The Council may also use your information for the purpose of performing any of its statutory enforcement duties.
The condition we rely on for processing your special category data is:
- Reasons of substantial public interest – statutory and government purposes.
Who do we share data with?
In addition to the general reasons for data sharing described in the Council’s Primary Privacy Notice, we share and retrieve data with the following when required:
- Other teams within Wigan Council, including but not limited to, Council Tax, Housing Rents, Adults Services, Children’s Services, Environmental Services and Registrars Service
- Other local authorities
- Government Departments and Agencies including, but not limited to, The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), The Department for Education
- Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to verify Continuing Health Care and Section 117 of the Mental Health Care Act 1983 funding
- His Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service
- The Police
- Registered Social and Private Landlords including their representatives
- Schools and Colleges
- Employers
- Your partner (if named on the claim/application form)
- The Office for National Statistics (ONS) to help with the production of statistics related to the economy, population and society and to help with the Census. Details of the information we share and how it will be used can be viewed on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website.
- Debt advisors or the Insolvency Service where you are registered with the Breathing Space Scheme. For more information on the scheme, please visit Breathing space (external link)
- Other professionals or providers of support services, such as food banks and advice services, where you have requested this
- Designated third-party organisations to facilitate support payments to you in respect of yourself and/or your family.
This is not an exhaustive list.
How long do we keep personal data?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any future legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
We must continue to retain necessary data in accordance with our corporate records policy to fulfil legal, statutory and regulatory requirements.
Automated decisions
All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.
Your rights
More information on how to seek advice to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal data by the council can be found at Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.
Data Protection Officer
If you wish to raise a concern or seek clarification about any aspect of this notice, please contact our Data Protection Officer. Please provide documents to prove your identity along with a description of your concern.
We will respond to all requests within one month.
If you are unhappy with the way that we handle your concern you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (external link).
Document information
Owner: Jo Mitchell, Assistant Director – Customer Support
Author: Leanne Powell, Business Manager - Assessments
Version and date: V6.0 October 2025